The 320 series (Postville Refresh) is a successor to the X25-M with 25nm MLC NAND instead of 34nm. Other than the move to cheaper flash modules there are no spectacular differences in these third generation Intel drives, aside from an option fo full disk encryption with 128-bit AES. Being made up of MLC NAND, it is targeting mainstream consumers with an attractive price point. There are six different capacities in the series: 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 300GB and 600GB.
Compared to the 510 series, the 320 SSDs use the older SATA 2 interface with lower potential performance. It is also worth noting that the 510 drives is built on the older but more durable 34nm production process.
Specifications:
- Sequential Read: Up to 250 MB/second
- Sequential Write: Up to 170 MB/second
- NAND type: MLC (25nm)
- Interface: SATA 2
- Controller: Intel
- Form Factor: 2.5 inch
- DRAM Cache: 128MB
- Power Consumption (Active): N/A
- Power Consumption (Idle): N/A
- TRIM support: Yes
- SMART support: Yes
Reviews:
The inclusion of full disk encryption is nice and it’s something I hope all controller makers will embrace going forward as well. My biggest issue with the 320 is that it’s not very forward looking.
Overall we see the Intel SSD 320 posts a big improvement over the previous generation X25-M on almost all fronts.
The 320 Series SSD could become a very attractive mid-range solution, but as it stands, it’s tough to recommend when fundamentally quicker drives are available for less.
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